Literary Biography

Jack the Ripper was probably the first serial killer to appear in a large metropolis at a time when the general populace was literate and the press was a force for social change. The press was also partly responsible for creating many myths surrounding the Ripper. Robin Odell's Ripperology is the first study to present a sequential history of literary investigations of Jack the Ripper's crimes and to address the seven principal phases of Ripper speculations....

Due interventi e una conversazione libera e amichevole con Susanna Tamaro su di sé, sul rapporto con la scrittura e sui suoi libri, fanno di "Verso casa" un prezioso piccolo compendio che avvicina i lettori ad un'autrice riservata eppure capace di parlare il linguaggio di tutti e soprattutto di illuminare aspetti spesso oscuri nella vita di ciascuno attraverso il semplice ma impegnativo esercizio del conoscere se stessi. Con una nuova introduzione dell'autrice.

Per Antonio Moresco "leggere non è solo leggere, è un incontro e un incrocio forte e rischioso di cromosomi, di corpi, di menti, di sogni". Da una lettura così intensa e fusionale nasce il trascinante dialogo che Moresco intreccia in queste pagine con Susi Pietri, francesista, appassionata studiosa e lettrice, che lo interroga sul suo incontro con Balzac.

Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty.

"We all need a hero or two to help us stand fast and think right," says William J. Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues, the #1 best seller that millions of American families turn to for moral inspiration. A new treasury chosen for young children, presents splendid tales of the valor and indomitable spirit.

Why did Norman Mailer stab his second wife at a party? Who was Edith Wharton's secret transatlantic lover? What motivated Anais Nin to become a bigamist? Writers Between the Covers rips the sheets off these and other real-life love stories of the literati - some with fairy tale endings and others that resulted in break-ups, breakdowns, and brawls. Among the writers laid bare are Agatha Christie, who sparked the largest-ever manhunt in England as her marriage fell apart; Arthur Miller, whose jaw-dropping pairing with Marilyn Monroe proved that opposites attract, at least initially.

I traveled across the globe from Vietnam to the United States and landed in Detroit, Michigan to reunite with my family. Coming from Saigon’s tropical weather, one of my wishes was to get to experience the magical beauty of a snow day for the first time, spent alongside my family. In the book, Goodbye Tropical Weather and Hello Winter, I share some of the great memories associated with this journey.

Mirinda Kossoff took one flight in her father’s Cessna Skyhawk as he piloted and navigated by landmarks that revealed themselves through openings in the trees below. A short three years later, he was dead at age 56. Memory of that ride fueled Kossoff’s desire to understand who her father was and the forces that shaped him. And by extension, how he shaped her life. Her need to know and to understand became a life-long pursuit.

In a volume he describes as "a series of covert and not-so-covert autobiographical pieces", Jonathan Lethem explores the nature of cultural obsession, in his case, with examples as diverse as western films, comic books, the music of Talking Heads and Pink Floyd, and the New York City subway. Along the way, he shows how each of these "voyages out from himself" have led him home, home to his father's life as a painter, and to the source of his beginnings as a writer.

Did you know that Paul Laurence Dunbar originated such famous lines as "I know why the caged bird sings" and "We wear the mask that grins and lies"? From his childhood in poverty and his early promise as a poet through his struggles to find acceptance as a writer and his tumultuous romance with his wife, to his immense fame and his untimely death, Dunbar's story is one of triumph and tragedy.

Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman reflects on his childhood with his award-winning father, Sid Fleischman, and details his own path to becoming a writer in this memorable audiobook that is part memoir, part travelogue, and part reflection on craft and creativity. Acclaimed author Paul Fleischman considers how growing up with a father who was an award-winning author helped to shape and inspire his own career. Paul and Sid Fleischman are the only father-son Newbery Medalists in history, and life in the Fleischman home was extraordinary.

Un bizzarro e coinvolgente viaggio sentimentale: sedici anni dopo le tragicomiche peripezie raccontate in "Stupore e tremori" e in "Né di Eva né di Adamo", Amélie Nothomb torna in Giappone. È l'occasione per rivedere i luoghi e le persone amati dopo lo spaventoso terremoto di Fukushima del 2011.

Here are the remarkable life stories of nine famous people who have left their mark upon the world: Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, George Washington, Ludwig van Beethoven, Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, and Mahatma Gandhi.

Dramatic, lyrical, and beautiful, O Captain, My Captain tells the story of one of America’s greatest poets and how he was inspired by one of America’s greatest presidents.

Walt Whitman was a printer, journalist, editor, and schoolteacher. But today, he's recognized as one of America's founding poets, a man who changed American literature forever. Who Was Walt Whitman? follows his remarkable journey from a young New York printer to one of America's most beloved literary figures.

This critically acclaimed imaginary autobiography of Frédéric Chopin was given a privileged place in the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw on his Bicentennial, "Since it's written by him," wrote the museum's director to the author. A work of lovely lyrical and musical accents written in Chopin's voice, Manuscript in Dreams brings to light the most meaningful moments and aspects of the composer’s life and work. Juana Rosa Pita threads together “manuscripts that appeared from dream to dream…” and the result is an ensemble of intimate pieces.

Let’s face it: Talking about race can be difficult. It’s a slippery subject, rife with as many perspectives as there are people in the world. But laughter gets us talking. It has the power to break down barriers and draw us closer together. In Open Mic, acclaimed author and speaker Mitali Perkins invites us to listen in as 10 authors for young adults - some familiar, some new - step up to the mic and share their stories about what it’s like growing up between cultures.

青年同士の淡い恋と心の移り変わりを描いた堀辰雄の短編小説。堀自身も学生時代、寄宿舎で生活していた経験がある。

Melvil Dewey loved order (Organize mother’s jelly jars), efficiency (Why spell his name Melville when Melvil has fewer letters and sounds the same?), and keeping records (Height! Weight! Earnings!). Melvil also loved books and numbers and decimals. When he realized every library organized their books differently (Size! Title! Color!), he wondered if he could invent a system all libraries could use to ORGANIZE them EFFICIENTLY.

All his life, William Stanley searched for a wild place of his own. Growing up in the straightened-out city blocks of his childhood and finding some respite in summer trips to a cabin in the woods, he yearned for space, fragrant soil, tall trees, and the silence that surrounds them. In Hawaii, he learned of acres of land depleted from toxic agricultural practices, and he became determined to restore that land and create one of the most comprehensive palm gardens in the world.